INDIANAPOLIS AND IU CAMPUSES ACROSS THE STATE -- Indiana University recently unveiled a plan to significantly reduce undergraduate tuition for summer-semester students in 2012 in order to provide financial relief to students, promote year-round college attendance, and decrease the time it takes many students to earn a degree.

Next summer, Indiana resident undergraduates enrolled at any of the seven IU campuses statewide will receive a 25-percent discount in tuition for courses taken in the summer. Nonresident undergraduate students will receive an equivalent dollar reduction in their tuition. For those students who take a full academic course load in the summer at IU Northwest, the tuition reduction would result in savings of more than $700.

This discount will benefit thousands of students who enroll in summer classes at the Northwest campus. More than 3,600 students enrolled in more than 15,000 credit hours over both summer sessions in 2011.

Registration for Summer 2012 begins March 26, 2012. The online summer schedule is expected to be available the second week of February.

The tuition discount, recently announced by IU President Michael A. McRobbie, also will allow for more efficient use of university facilities across the state.

"This large tuition discount is being offered to IU students in order to provide important financial relief for students and their families and also a significant financial incentive for attending IU year-round," McRobbie said. "Greater attendance in the summer will allow IU to make more efficient use of its facilities. It also will provide an affordable option for students who want to complete their degrees at IU on a faster track than the traditional model."

Enhanced flexibility and better use of summer sessions were recommended in two major faculty-administration reports completed in the last academic year: the New Academic Directions report for the Bloomington and IUPUI campuses, and the Blueprint for Student Attainment for the IU regional campuses.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels supported the plan as a way to help students and make better use of the university's buildings and facilities.

"Every college and university should be looking for ways to help students get more education for their dollar," Daniels said. "IU's idea to maximize use of its facilities year-round is a good one, and one that should be imitated at all of our schools. I hope to see campuses full of hardworking students next summer."

Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers applauded the initiative as an example of the type of organizational innovation necessary in this difficult economic climate to help keep high-quality higher education affordable for Hoosier students.

"The commission appreciates efforts by Indiana University and our other higher education institutions that reflect a priority on reducing college costs and promoting timely degree completion," said Lubbers.

IU currently operates summer sessions at its campuses across the state, and summer enrollment has remained relatively constant for the past decade. In 2011, approximately 43,000 individual students took at least one class during the summer, representing less than 40 percent of IU's total student population.

"For public universities to thrive and grow in these challenging times, we have to be willing to re-examine everything we do with an eye toward finding efficiencies and adapting to the needs of our students who will be entering the 21st-century global marketplace," McRobbie said.

"This initiative reflects the world in which our students live today and provides them valuable financial relief as they pursue their degrees," he added. "I am confident this will help us graduate more students in less time and allow our graduates to leave IU with less debt as they start their careers."﻿